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Naomi the Steam Coach Engine
Dear Friends, A little west of the Main Station, there is a branch line run by Naomi, a beautiful steam motor coach. She takes great pride in her work; she knows everybody, and everybody knows her. Many visitors are surprised when they see how different it is from any other branch line! Sometimes, however, Naomi’s pride gets to her head, and she can become fairly troublesome. Because of this, the Big Controller has ordered another engine to help her out. They didn’t get along too well when they first met though, and they competed with each other; this caused even more problems. Their real competition, however, might not run on rails… The Author Of Goats and Glory Naomi the steam motor coach loves nothing more than working on her branch line. Every day, she trundles to and fro, carrying people from station to station, fruits to market, and sometimes even mail. She is good friends with everyone she meets. Her Driver was especially proud of her. “Right on time, once again!” he would say as they pulled into the last station. “Naomi, you’re a really splendid little engine!” This only made her very conceited. Naomi was always punctual and on time for any destination, and so, when the bigger engines of the Main Line met delays, she couldn’t help but criticize, even if it wasn’t their fault. One chilly afternoon, she was waiting impatiently at the Main Station for Morning Light. Ever since Hiro left, Morning Light was put in charge of his passenger duties. And since they couldn’t use their famous “slip coach” technique, Morning Light had to remember to stop at the Main Station. Eventually, Morning Light groaned in with his heavy train. “Sorry I’m late,” he panted. “They were doing repairs up the line, and I…” “You may be a good friend,” Naomi snorted, “but you’re far too slow! Our railway has a reputation to keep up, you know.” Morning Light rolled his eyes. “Oh yes, of course,” he grunted. Soon, Naomi’s passengers were on board, and she puffed away to make up for lost time. Naomi’s branch line runs through a small village, where there are several houses and farms along the line. A few miles from the village station lived an old woman, names Mrs. Miyagi, and her goat. She was almost always inside, so Naomi hardly ever saw her. This particular evening, the temperature was dropping, and Mrs. Miyagi was preparing for the cold night. She checked her fireplace and sighed sadly. “Oh dear me,” she said with a frown. “It seems we’ve run out of coal.” “Baa!” said her goat just as Naomi puffed by, whistling loudly. Mrs. Miyagi thought for a moment before coming up with a clever idea. She opened the door and led her goat outside to the tracks. Naomi had just unloaded her passengers when the telephone rang in the station. The Stationmaster talked hurriedly to her Driver. “It seems some of the logging supplies arrived early,” he explained. “The sidings are full and they can’t have the trucks blocking the line in the morning. We need Naomi to collect them as soon as she can.” So once they were ready, they hurried away down the line to head back to the Main Station. But along the way, Naomi saw something on the tracks ahead. “What in the world…?” her Driver said as he slowed Naomi to a stop. There, standing right in the middle of the line, was a big gray goat. It starred up at Naomi and blinked as it chewed on some grass. “Peep peep!” Naomi whistled. “Move, if you’d please!” But the goat didn’t move. It just stared stupidly at her cowcatcher. “Baa!” it said. Her Driver, Fireman and Guard tried all sorts of tricks, and even tried to “wheesh” it away with Naomi’s steam, but it was no good. The goat just stayed right where it was and munched on the grass. Naomi gritted her teeth with impatience. “Come ON!” she cried despairingly. The Driver and Fireman were getting frustrated too. They started to grab lumps of coal and threw it at the goat, which skillfully dodged the flying black lumps. Soon, the guard joined in, and they all threw coal while yelling for the goat to move. Just then, Mrs. Miyagi looked out of her home to see the commotion. She had wanted to hold the train up and ask the Guard for some coal, but this had worked much easier; beside the line was plenty of coal to get her through the night! She whistled at the goat. “Tessa, dear!” she called. “Come inside, please!” The goat’s ears perked up, and it trotted away happily to her owner’s cottage. Naomi and her crew stared in disbelief. “Well! Have you ever seen anything like it?” laughed the driver. Mrs. Miyagi collected the coal off the side of the track and apologized to Naomi and the Guard. “We would’ve been glad to share it if you flagged us down and asked!” he chuckled. As Mrs. Miyagi hurried inside with the coal, Naomi set off again to the Main Station. Katsu was half asleep by the time Naomi steamed in. He was very surprised at how late she was. “Well here’s a first!” he said. “Naomi, of all engines, late for work!” Naomi blushed crossly. “You watch your tongue, shrimp,” she snorted as she coupled up to the flatbeds. “There was an animal on the line, and I HAD to stop.” “One little animal shouldn’t hold you up!” Katsu said mockingly. “It’s like you said, ‘Our railway has a reputation to keep up, you know.’ Oh man, wait until Morning Light hears about this!” Katsu trundled off to his shed while a very embarrassed Naomi headed back home. Tender Trouble Naomi’s least favorite part of the railway was the Works. To her, it was a filthy, grimy place filled with rust and dirty smoke. “A fine engine like me,” she would complain, “should never have to suffer the indignity of being surrounded by such filth!” Worst of all, there was Oni, the little Works engine. He had a weird humped body with cylinders on his top, reaching down to his wheels. He had come from far away, and worked at a brewery. Because of this, he was always in a happy, giggly state and loved to tease and taunt Naomi. One evening, Naomi pulled in to have her coach end mended. She was just falling asleep when Oni snuck alongside and whistled loudly. Naomi immediately woke up and yelped. “Nya ha ha!” laughed Oni as he left his flatbed of parts alongside Naomi. “What are you doing awake? Get some sleep!” He snickered as he puffed away. In the morning, Naomi felt strangely uncomfortable. As she came to her senses, she looked back and discovered, much to her horror that her coach end was missing. Instead, there was a green tender coupled to her back. “Oni!” she shouted furiously. “ONI!” The little engine puffed up to her. “Where did the rest of me go?” snapped Naomi. “I dunno, you should go find it,” Oni replied with a silly grin. “You little—!” Naomi started to say, but Oni zipped away. The Manager of the works came up to her. “Your coach needed some repairs,” he said, “But there isn’t a spare engine for your line, so we decided to give you your spare tender instead.” Naomi clattered away crossly with the tender. She arrived at the Main Station to collect her coaches. Katsu’s jaw dropped when he saw her. “I thought we couldn’t afford another engine…” he said. “It’s me, Naomi!” the little green engine snapped crossly. “You certainly don’t look like her,” Katsu said as he shunted the branch line coaches to the platform. “I don’t feel like myself either,” Naomi said with a shudder. “Without the rest of me, I just feel so…I don’t know…naked!” Katsu rolled his eyes. “You can still work though,” he pointed out, “and that’s what matters to the Big Controller.” When Naomi arrived back on her branch line, none of the people recognized her at first. “Who’s the new engine?” the Stationmaster asked, before suddenly realizing who it was. “Oh, Naomi! What happened to you?” Naomi didn’t answer. Instead, she let the passengers get on board the coaches, and she puffed quickly away. “I’ll just finish my work as soon as possible,” she said to herself, “and then nobody will have to see me like this. But Naomi hadn’t thought of the Jobi Hill. The line past the village toward the furthest station went up a steep slope. Naomi could usually tackle it with ease, but without her coach body, her confidence had completely left her. “Steady, girl,” her Driver cautioned as they approached the bottom. Naomi wanted to charge the hill, but she couldn’t make enough steam. She felt the strain of the coaches as she climbed. She was hissing mournfully from her cylinders. Soon, she could see over the other side, but she was still panting and struggling. “Just a little more…” she hissed. There was a sudden crack, and Naomi shot forward. Her back suddenly felt very cold. Her driver braked her and look back. “Oh no…” he groaned as he mopped his forehead. Naomi’s tender had snapped away, and it was rolling down the hill with the coaches. As they reached the bottom, the guard managed to stop the train, and waited for Naomi with his flags in hand. Blushing fit to burst, Naomi made her way slowly down the hill and was reattached to her tender. The passengers were cross. “What an unreliable engine!” they said. “Where’s our usual engine?” Nobody said a word. Naomi had to back further down the line and try again, this time charging the hill at full speed. The Fireman had to keep looking back to make sure the coupling didn’t come lose again. They managed to make it to the station only seconds late, but Naomi was miserable. That evening, the Big Controller came to see her at the Sheds. “Naomi,” he said, “I’m very proud of you. Even under your…ahem…unusual circumstances, you’ve done very well, from what your Driver tells me.” Naomi blushed. “It was nothing, really,” she said with a weary smile. “All trains must get through, right?” “You’ll have your coach fitted back on very soon,” the Big Controller told her kindly. “Get plenty of rest, because logging season starts soon, and we’re bringing a new engine to help you. He’s keen to make an impression, so teach him well.” “You can count on me, Sir,” Naomi said proudly. Forest Curve A few days later, Naomi arrived at the harbor to meet the new engine. She had her coach end fitted back onto her, and she felt wonderful. “It shouldn’t be too hard to show him the ropes,” she said confidently to herself. Much to her horror, however, the engine was nothing like she had imagined. While she had been hoping for a steam engine, what she saw was a long yellow diesel, with green stripes and coach windows all along his sides. “This is your new working partner,” the Representative said as he introduced him. “His name is Sora. I really hope you two get along well.” The looks of anger and confusion on both of their faces suggested otherwise. Glaring holes into each other, they left the harbor and headed down to the branch line. Naomi took Sora to the village station, the furthest point of the branch line. “Here,” she was starting to say, “is where our line…” “Hey, listen,” Sora interrupted with a smirk. “You don’t need to tell me how things work, lady. I can figure it out on my own.” Naomi was thunderstruck. “What did you say?” she spluttered. “Look, I’m a top of the line diesel of the modern world,” Sora boasted. “I’m built to be the fastest, smartest, and most sophisticated branch line diesel you’ve ever seen. And you, you’re just way behind the times. You should’ve been scrapped decades ago.” “Sophisticated?” Naomi snapped. “You’re a bus on rails!” Sora was so offended and furious he almost blew a fuse! Branch line services had been halted for the day, so the two engines decided to have a race. Their Drivers refused at first, but when the Stationmaster told them it would be okay, they decided to go ahead. The Stationmaster held up a flag as the two engines prepared to go. “Are you ready? Three…two…one…GO!” No sooner had he waved the flag, Naomi and Sora snorted out of the station and down the line. Naomi, puffing hard, slowly drew in front, but Sora was soon catching up, his engine roaring. Sora was just about to pull in front of Naomi when he realized that the points were set against him. Suddenly, he was on the wrong line, screeching to a halt as Naomi puffed away, chortling triumphantly. “Catch me if you can!” she called out to him. Naomi drew into the Main Station first, and took on as much water as she could. She could hear Sora’s ugly horn honking from far off. “Wow, he caught up quick!” she said to herself. Katsu was shunting Ryu’s coaches nearby. “Huh?” he said, surprised to see Naomi at the platform. “What’s going on?” “I’m racing! No time to talk!” Naomi called out as she puffed away from the platform. Just as she cleared the bend, Sora growled into the station, panting hard as he hurried away behind her. “For being nearly sixty years old,” Katsu mused to himself, “that Naomi sure can be reckless…” Along the way, Naomi had to stop. A bus had been driving too close to the line, and it popped a tire on the rails. As they moved the big white bus away, Sora roared by, hooting and laughing loudly. “Take your time, steam kettle!” he shouted as his sped away from view. Naomi couldn’t stand it. As soon as the bus was clear from the track, Naomi hurried after Sora. To her surprise, he had switched onto her line, to prevent her from getting ahead. She whistled loudly and shouted at him, but he paid her no attention. Up ahead was the Forest Curve, a dark, steep, curved tunnel leading up to the logging site. Naomi absolutely hated going through there, but Sora plunged into the darkness without a second thought. As Naomi followed behind him, her smoke and steam filled the tunnel. Ahead, Sora’s air intake was filled with smoke. He and his Driver were coughing as they struggled to keep going. There was a jerk as Sora’s engine spluttered to a stop, but surrounded by Naomi’s smoke, he couldn’t tell what was going on. “Hey!” he gagged through the darkness. “Are we still moving?” From below, Naomi could just barely see, rolling backwards down the curve was Sora. She screeched to a stop and whistled loudly. “What are you doing?” she shouted. “Stop! STOP!” But it was too late. Sora bashed right into Naomi, and both engines derailed just at the mouth of the tunnel. The two Drivers and Naomi’s Fireman were shaken but unhurt, but the engines’ buffers were badly bent. No. 12 soon arrived with the workmen and the Big Controller. He spoke severely to the two engines. “Racing at high speeds is forbidden on my railway!” he snapped at Sora. “Your recklessness could’ve seriously hurt innocent people! You should feel ashamed of yourself!” Sora gulped. Naomi smirked triumphant. “As for YOU!” the Big Controller continued, pointing his finger toward the steam coach. “You’ve been even worse! For an engine who’s been working here for over fifty years, I’d expect you to have known much better than this. You told me I could rely on you, and now…” The Big Controller sighed and mopped his forehead. “Now I don’t know.” As the Big Controller walked away, Naomi’s heart sank. Even Sora, who had antagonized her all day, couldn’t say anything when he saw how ashamed the elderly steam engine was. Troubles with Twins Naomi and Sora were sent to the Works to have their damaged buffers mended. As the workmen got them ready, they spoke quietly to each other. “I’m sorry about how I acted,” Naomi said first. “The Big Controller was right. What was I thinking, starting a race like that?” “No, I’m the one who should be sorry,” sighed Sora. “It’s this whole ‘diesel pride’ thing.” “What do you mean?” “They always have such high expectations for us when we’re built. ‘You’ll be a revolution!’ they told us. ‘You’re going to put those steam kettles out of work!’ What if I just want to work like any other engine? Can’t I just take passengers and make friends? I don’t really have to hurt anybody else in the process, do I? It’s so nerve-racking…” Naomi was surprised. “From how you were acting, I thought you were serious…” she said. By the end of the next day, the damage had been repaired. As the workmen looked over everything to make sure the engines were ready, Oni bustled up alongside the railbus. “I hope you’re ready for logging season,” he said playfully, “otherwise you might be here again!” “Logging season?” Sora asked. “There’s a rare tree that grows on our island,” Naomi explained. “They call it the Jobi tree. The wood’s really strong and sturdy, so lots of people want to use it to build things. Every few months, I take loggers up to the higher hills near my branch line, and bigger engines take the wood to faraway places.” “The wood’s heavy,” Oni put in, “and sometimes, there aren’t other engines to take it, so Naomi does it herself. I hope you’re not a lightweight engine!” Sora grumbled to himself, while Oni’s laughs of “Nya ha ha!” echoed around the works. While Naomi and Sora were being mended, a pair of new buses was used to handle the passengers. These twins, one amber and one black, loathed railways and wished they would be ripped up. The amber one was Kin, and the black one as Kuro. When Naomi brought Sora to the station for his first day of work, there were hardly any people on the platform. She noticed the two buses on the nearby road, filled with her usual passengers. “Oh,” Kin growled. “You’re back.” “Yes, and I want my people back, please,” Naomi said sternly. “Not happening, lady,” snorted Kuro. “Your days are over.” “And you, road-traitor” Kin added, looking at Sora. “Better get some proper wheels fitted or you’ll probably share her fate.” The two buses rumbled away. Naomi and Sora were deeply shocked. The following morning, the two engines were told that they were both needed to collect the loggers from the Main Station. “From what I was told on the phone,” Sora’s Driver said, “it sounds like the whole platform’s crowded. We’re lucky to have two engines this year.” But when they arrived, the station was empty. Katsu stared at them. “What are you two doing here?” “We were told,” Naomi said, “That there were people to pick up…” “Yeah, a pair of buses came and took them.” Katsu said. “They said they were on official orders from the Big Controller. They were saying something about revolutions or some other nonsense…” Naomi was furious. “Those MONSTERS!” she hissed. “They’ve stolen our people!” Grumbling dreadfully, Naomi hurried out of the station, Sora following close behind. They hurried down the line until they reached the Forest Curve. Here they shut off Sora’s motor and they loosely coupled him up to Naomi. With much effort, she pulled over the difficult bend, and once they were clear of the tunnel, she picked up speed toward the logging site. Along the nearby road, Sora noticed something between the trees. “Hey, look!” he shouted. Next to them were Kin and Kuro, speeding along the road with their passengers bouncing in their seats. Ahead of them was the level crossing. Naomi wanted to stop in front of it to block the buses, but she was going much too fast, and she would miss the crossing by several yards. Then she realized something Hiro used to do with his train. “Sora!” she shouted at him. “I’m going to let you go now!” Sora was baffled. “Wait, WHAT?!” he exclaimed, but just then, the guard appeared out of his compartment and knocked Sora’s already loose coupling. As Naomi sped past the crossing, Sora began to roll away from her. His Driver brought him neatly to a stop, right in front of the crossing gates. Naomi slowed to a stop and backed away to see Kin and Kuro fuming at the gate. “Good job!” she said cheerfully to Sora. The buses snarled. “You haven’t beaten us!” they said together. “We’ll get you yet!” They tried to drive away, but the road ended at the gate. They rolled into the muddy ground and finally stopped, unable to move a wheel. The loggers came out of the buses. “We should’ve known to wait for our usual train!” one of them said crossly as he kicked Kin’s wheel. The loggers apologized to Naomi, and they boarded her and Sora. With that, they hurried away to the logging site, leaving the buses stranded where they were. The following morning, the Big Controller came to the sheds to see the two engines. “I’ve spoke to the bus company,” he said, “and you won’t be seeing that pair stealing your passengers anymore.” The two engines smiled in relief. “Thank you, Sir,” they said together. “I’ve heard nothing but praise about you two,” he went on, “especially from the loggers. Naomi, you’ll be getting a new coat of paint. And Sora, I’d like to welcome you to our railway, as our very first diesel locomotive.” Sora grinned. “Really, Sir, you should get…” he started, but Naomi’s stern look quickly quieted him. “Uh, I mean, thank you, Sir!” Sora is still learning to be a Really Useful Engine, but he knows now that whenever he needs help, he can always turn to his best friend Naomi.